Guidelines for Game Masters Knox's Decalogue: https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Knox's_Decalogue Van Dine's 20 Rules: https://courtofillusions.wordpress.com/vandines-20-rules/ G. K. Chesterton: https://www.chesterton.org/how-to-write-detective/ During the early 20th century a number of prominent mystery authors began writing their own rules for detective fiction. While in the realm of writing detective fiction they are more like guidelines, in Umineko and /seacats/ gameboards they can be considered red truth -- as long as the Game Master makes it clear that such rules apply in their game. Generally these rules only exist to develop trust between the Game Master and players, so that they know the mystery can be solved. There might be no need to mention these rules at all, but they still serve as excellent guidelines for writing mysteries today. The most important rules are Knox's 8th and Van Dine's 15th, which both promote the idea of a fair game. The players must be able to solve the mystery using the clues presented in the story, and upon re-reading the story it should be apparent that the answer was obvious in hindsight. This also includes RP games where the players must find the clues themselves; the Game Master needs to make sure that the players stumble into the most important clues one way or another -- even if it means violating Knox's 6th (to "accidentally find a clue"). Guidelines for Players Players should construct proper theories, especially if the Game Master places a limit on the number of theories one can propose. While it might sound efficient to say "X is the culprit!" for each character in the list, the theory should contain substance and explain how that theory is possible in a way that doesn't contradict any red text. Blue text typically includes the denial of the witch (or whatever supernatural entity you are trying to disprove) or at the very least an explanation involving a human culprit. If the Game Master permits the use of navy text, you can use it to repeat statements in red. For example, "Repeat it! There are exactly 18 people on Rokkenjima!" can't directly be turned into a theory that denies the witch, but it might be useful information for creating another theory later on. Conclusion